THE EFFICACY OF THE DESIGN CHARRETTE AS A TOOL FOR COMMUNITY PLANNING by JULIA REED (Under the Direction of Pratt Cassity) ABSTRACT Community involvement in the process of city planning and design has become an increasingly important topic during the last 50 years. This thesis examines the community design charrette as a tool for cooperation, consensus and resolution of problems facing American cities today. The University of Georgia (UGA) Center for Community Design & Preservation (CCDP) conducted forty-nine charrettes in the state of Georgia between 1998 and 2006. The success and failure of community involvement efforts, such as charrettes can be linked in part to a community’s level of readiness and existing level of social capacity. Research for this thesis includes an analysis of communities, based on responses to a charrette follow-up survey. In-depth study of four participating Georgia towns resulted in several noteworthy and significant findings. INDEX WORDS: City Planning, Community Design, Community Development, Public Participation, Charrette THE EFFICACY OF THE DESIGN CHARRETTE AS A TOOL FOR COMMUNITY PLANNING by JULIA REED B.A., Earlham College 2000 A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree MASTER OF LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE ATHENS, GEORGIA 2007 © 2007 Julia Reed All Rights Reserved THE EFFICACY OF THE DESIGN CHARRETTE AS A TOOL FOR COMMUNITY PLANNING by JULIA REED Major Professor: Pratt Cassity Committee: Mary Anne Akers Mac Brown Evan Thibeault Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2007 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Pratt Cassity for inviting me to join his team as a graduate assistant in 2004. Working as charrette coordinator for the CCDP has been on of the most rewarding and educational aspects of my graduate career. Thank you for opening my eyes to the world of community planning and development though our many travels throughout the state, and for your encouragement, support and humor. Thank you to committee members Mary Anne Akers, Mac Brown and Evan Thibeault for your guidance and direction. I would also like to thank and acknowledge Jason Nail, Laura Reed, Annabelle Reed, Richard and Audrey Reed Stacey Matisoff, Katherine Smith, Eleonora Machado, Jane Link, Meg Kinsella, Katie Parent, Gretchen Gigley, Melissa Roberts, Jennifer Martin Lewis, Drane Wilkinson, Rebekah Jane Justice, Donna Gabriel, Jason Todd, John Kominoski, Sarah Hemmings, Christian Schrader, and Jen Fisher for your support and encouragement. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES......................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1 2 CITIZEN PARTICIPATION IN HISTORY .................................................................3 3 SOCIAL CAPACITY: THE ROLE OF THE DESIGN CHARRETTE......................18 4 METHODOLOGY & FINDINGS ..............................................................................29 5 CASE STUDY: SUWANEE, GEORGIA ...................................................................36 6 CASE STUDY: TOCCOA, GEORGIA ......................................................................48 7 CASE STUDY: HAWKINSVILLE, GEORGIA ........................................................62 8 CASE STUDY: HARLEM, GEORGIA......................................................................74 9 CONCLUSION............................................................................................................85 REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................88 APPENDICES ...............................................................................................................................98 A TIMELINE OF FEDERAL PROGRAMS & EVENTS ..............................................98 B CHARRETTE INVENTORY....................................................................................102 C CHARRETTE FOLLOW-UP SURVEY...................................................................105 D COMMUNITY COMMENTS FROM CHARRETTE FOLLOW-UP SURVEY.....109 v LIST OF TABLES Page Table 3.1 – The NCI recommends that charrettes comply with general guidelines......................23 Table 4.1 – Characteristics of successful communities .................................................................31 Table 4.2 – Characteristics of successful community building processes.....................................32 Table 4.3 – Charrette follow-up survey results..............................................................................33 Table 5.1 – Suwanee, Georgia at a glance.....................................................................................47 Table 6.1 – Major employers in Toccoa/Stephens County, Georgia.............................................51 Table 6.2 – Toccoa, Georgia at a glance........................................................................................51 Table 7.1 – Hawkinsville, Georgia at a glance .............................................................................64 Table 8.1 – Harlem, Georgia at a glance .......................................................................................77 vi LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 2.1 – Norman Rockwell Painting “Freedom of Speech ......................................................4 Figure 2.2 – Pruitt-Igoe circa 1957 .................................................................................................9 Figure 2.3 – Pruitt-Igoe lobby rendering ........................................................................................9 Figure 2.4 – Pruitt-Igoe lobby photograph .....................................................................................9 Figure 2.5 – Pruitt-Igoe demolition 1972 .....................................................................................10 Figure 2.6 – Cabrini Green in Chicago .........................................................................................10 Figure 2.7 – Poor definition of outdoor space in public housing ..................................................11 Figure 2.8 – Detroit, Michigan Figure Ground Study 1916-1994 ................................................12 Figure 3.1 – Illustration of a charrette cart ...................................................................................20 Figure 3.2 – Charrette cartoon ......................................................................................................21 Figure 3.3 – Charrettes completed in Georgia by the UGA CCDP ..............................................24 Figure 3.4 – Example of final report for Tybee Island charrette ..................................................27 Figure 3.5 – Tybee Island charrette report ....................................................................................27 Figure 4.1 – Pre-existing level of community social capacity at time of charrette ......................34 Figure 4.2 – Success of charrette as a community building process ............................................34 Figure 5.1 – Suwanee is located in Gwinnett County, Georgia ....................................................36 Figure 5.2 – Suwanee New Town Center .....................................................................................38 Figure 5.3 – New neighborhood adjoining mixed-use area...........................................................38 Figure 5.4 – Site plan for Suwanee Town Center Park .................................................................43 vii Figure 5.5 – Aerial photograph of Suwanee Town Center Park....................................................44 Figure 5.6 – Suwanee Town Center Park, 2005 ............................................................................44 Figure 5.7 – Suwanee New Town Center and adjoining neighborhood .......................................45 Figure 5.8 – Phased development plan for Suwanee New Town Center.......................................46 Figure 5.9 – City of Suwanee Timeline ........................................................................................47 Figure 6.1 – Toccoa is located in Stephens County, Georgia .......................................................49 Figure 6.2 – Historic photograph of Doyle St. in downtown Toccoa............................................52 Figure 6.3 – Historic photograph of downtown Toccoa at night...................................................52 Figure 6.4 – Doyle St. in downtown Toccoa ................................................................................53 Figure 6.5 – Canopies covering sidewalks on Doyle St. in downtown Toccoa ............................54 Figure 6.6 – Option A: Parallel parking with two-way traffic.......................................................55 Figure 6.7 – Option B: Traffic divided by tree-lined median .......................................................55 Figure 6.8 – UGA charrette team members measure and design streetscape concepts.................56 Figure 6.9 – Toccoa celebrated